Answer to Question #254608 in Psychology for Holi

Question

How is mental illness viewed in the media/society? What can we do, as a society, to change the stigma associated with mental illness and how can we become a better resource for individuals that have a psychological disorder?

Answer 1

Society can have fixed views about mental ill health. Some people believe people with mental health problems are dangerous, when in fact they are at a higher risk of being attacked or harming themselves than hurting other people. The society view mental illnesses as health conditions that involve changes in emotion, thinking or behavior. Mental illnesses are associated with distress and problems functioning in social, work or family activities.

As a society we can do the following to change the stigma which is associated to mental illness; firstly, we can overcome mental illness stigmatization by educating ourselves and others. We should take an opportunity to educate people and share our personal story and struggles with mental illness. It doesn't matter where we are, but if we over-hear a conversation or a rude remark being made about mental illness, or anything regarding a similar subject, we will always try to use that as a learning opportunity.

Secondly, the society can fight mental illness stigmatization by being conscious of their language. This is because we fight stigma by reminding people that their language matters. We can also fight mental illness stigma by showing compassion for those with mental illness.

We can become a better resource for individuals that have a psychological disorder by improving care pathways and insurance schemes for treating specific mental disorders by defining and adopting standards of care, increase the number of mental health experts and train non-specialists to provide mental healthcare at the community level and also by creating policies that morally frame and guide the use of new technologies and data for early identification and prevention of mental ill health.